Modern departments of public safety have a break-off policy that obligates PS officers to cease pursuit when a chase exceeds certain speeds, the thinking behind which being that to continue increases risk of injury, and that radios and helicopters (soon maybe drones) make pursuit a lot more efficient.

Macho..your pretty quick to assume it was a speeder. If you read a little you will learn police pursuits must be validated as per the pursuing agencies policy...meaning...it was likely a felony suspect. Just think if that was the drunk driver who just crash into you and your family causing injury or death to the people you love....would you want CHP to chase them or just let them go?

Posted by Truth Teller
a resident of Stoneridge
on Dec 3, 2012 at 4:51 pm

First of all, what are two CHP officers doing in one car? What a lousy waste of money. How many CHP officers does it take to stop a speeding motorist? Two. One to tip the car on its roof and one to help both get out. I thought I'd heard it all.

Second, cops can pursue anyone committing a felony. And fleeing a police officer is a felony.

How many lives did the suspects put at risk in THEIR macho attempt to flee? The CHP was doing their job by trying to hold these suspects accountable and bringing them to justice. The suspects made the decision to run and the cops acted accordingly.

I'm sure CHP takes into consideration road conditions, weather, vehicle capability, etc. At 3:20 AM in the morning, that is probably the best time to pursue a car verses at 3:20 PM.

You should learn the facts before slamming the officers.

Truth Teller,

What are two officers doing in one car? For safety reasons. Because at night time, their nearest assistance may be miles and miles away. Because there are criminals out there who resist, fight and try to kill officers. And look at this article, because people want to flee and put everyone's life at risk so they can get away.

It has nothing to do with how many cops it takes to stop a speeding motorist. It's about the potentially violent situations they can encounter at any given time. They are state peace officers and their duties consist of investigating shootings, rapes, murders, ANYTHING g possible that can occur on the freeways or cities they police. Stopping speeding cars is not the only thing they do. If that was so, they would only carry a ticket book and a pen instead of all the armor and gear they carry.

That is most definitely not a waste of money and besides, who are you to question the CHP's policy and what they spend money on? Since you want to make fun of the cops doing a dangerous job and because you think you know so much, why don't you complete an application and become one of them. But for now, Macho and Truth Teller should reserve their comments until they actually know what they are talking about.

Posted by mooseturd
a resident of Pleasanton Valley
on Dec 4, 2012 at 10:04 ammooseturd is a registered user.

John, Wait a minute and calm down. Did you get a speeding ticket or something? We hire the CHP to make the decision as to chase or let em walk. They were doing their job, not abusing authority. It's not the fault of law enforcement that criminals cruise the mall parking lot. They've caught all these folks several times and the courts let em out as soon as they are well fed.

Posted by Good Neighbor
a resident of Birdland
on Dec 4, 2012 at 11:01 am

Thank you to the writers who pointed out that not all the facts have been reported and so it is unfair to make premature judgments.
Here's a fact you might not think about: the CHP is a body of highly trained officers who put their lives on the line every day and get very little thanks for doing their jobs. Safety is their ultimate goal when they take to the road and with pension reform legislation in place, today's officers will assuredly not be getting rich keeping the roads safe for you. And yet, the CHP academy is full of recruits who value your safety above their own.

Maybe your problem is you are calling CHP for something that is occuring at the mall. CHP is primarily responsible for the highway, hence the HP in the name. How about try calling the city police for where you are located? That just might do the trick.

And just a guess, you probably got a carpool ticket and are upset. Dont drive in the carpool lane without passengers and that wont happen!

Posted by Truth Teller
a resident of Stoneridge
on Dec 4, 2012 at 1:55 pm

The truth will come out. How many times have you seen two CHP in one car? I think there was hanky panky going on, big time. I bet there was another patrol car nearby, but the two wanted to be by themselves. Highly paid, highly pensioned, unionized, what are we paying for? Guns and tasers aren't enough? Now they need an extra passenger for back up. How sickening!

Posted by Good Neighbor
a resident of Birdland
on Dec 4, 2012 at 2:18 pm

Truth Teller - Your comments are filled with anything but the truth. CHP officers ride alone until 11 PM when, for safety purposes, they double up in patrol cars. And as for "highly paid," get real! These men and women have as hard a time supporting their families as the rest of us. Plus, most of us don't start our work day wondering if we are going to make it safely through our shift.

"'WE' hire the CHP to make the decision as to chase or let em walk." I don't think so. Which hiring committee were you on?

"highly trained officers" Give... me... a... break! If they were highly trained they wouldn't be out flipping patrol cars on a Monday morning would they? So how much money and risk to life did this cost? Obviously they were not as highly trained as the suspect who managed to keep his car intact.

"And yet, the CHP academy is full of recruits who value your safety above their own." You bet it is, though it isn't because of their raging passion to make the world a safe place. These were below-average student who couldn't make it into or though a decent college and have an inferiority complex and need some way justify asserting themselves over others. There is no saintly reason someone would chose to be hall monitor to the highways and spend their days feeling good after ruining some poor single mother of three's day by making her pay hundreds of dollars because she had twenty things on her mind and was driving 58 mph in a 45 but hurting no one and then having to drop the insurance because the rates went up again.

I can see why folks would want to be a detective, or even work for the city or county police forces, but anyone working for the CHP has a real complex.

And Truth Teller is correct. I can't even count the number of times I have seen a CHP car just parked in the back of some deserted parking lot late at night with no one around, no doubt having recently busted some local prostitute and taking favors for letting her off while his poor wife and kids sit at home.

Posted by Christine
a resident of Pleasanton Valley
on Dec 5, 2012 at 10:04 am

Relax everyone! I will say that people are so quick to cast judgement when they read an article about police activity, especially when it's not them in need of an officer. I personally respect the men and women who put their lives in jeopardy each and every day so that we can be a little safer. And remember, there are always two sides to a story. For me, I am thankful the two officers only suffered minor injuries in what could have been fatal. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

My first thought is that anyone who decided to pursue a career in law enforcement is well aware of the risks and benefits- no one is forced to become an officer or a CHP
These people receive top notch training and are very well paid at a cost (and benefit) to tax payers
I see no reason that CHP deserve any special thank you for doing their jobs well as all the rest of us should be doing in our respective professions/jobs
Secondly regardless of the circumstances there is no reason to risk innocent lives - and be sure innocent lives were risked- to pursue a law breaker- they could have called for back up or air support and I am fairly certain the law breaker would have been apprehended sooner or later. There really are not that many cars traveling that late at night on a road that is easy to track.
The key concept here to consider is "sooner or later" - too many law enforcement let their egos get in the way and perhaps watch way too much TV
If your son or daughter was killed or seriously injured.as a result of this high speed chase I wonder what your opinion of this event would really be.

Posted by Good Neighbor
a resident of Birdland
on Dec 5, 2012 at 12:04 pm

Thank you, Christine, for expressing a voice of reason in this discussion. The article certainly did not have all the details of the incident and I know that the CHP is never supposed to put safety second to the pursuit.
I, too, thank all of those who are trying to keep our highways safe, just as I thank all of those who keep our country safe by serving in the armed services. They, too, know the risk when they join, but does that mean they don't deserve our thanks???